Baby chair



Oct. 22, 1957 T. R. PLESE 2,810,428

BABY CHAIR 'iled Dec. 2, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR THOMAS R.PLESE ATTORNEYS United States PatentO 2,810,428 BABY CHAIR Thomas R. Plese, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application December 2, 1954, Serial No. 472,578

2 Claims. (Cl. 155-56) This invention appertains to childrens furniture and more particularly to a novel babys chair.

One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide a safe chair for supporting a baby either in a sitting, a reclining or semi-reclining position, with means for imparting motion to the chair to keep the child con tent, from a foot pedal, thereby leaving the hands of the mother or other person free to do other desired things.

Another salient object of my invention is to provide a chair of a preferred form mounted for rocking movement on a transverse shaft carried by a stable base frame with means including a foot pedal and a contractile coil spring connected with the chair in front of the shaft for rocking the chair on the shaft and a contractile coil spring con nected to the base frame and to the chair in rear of the shaft for returning the chair to a normal position after depression of the foot pedal, the coil springs functioning in combination with one another to hold the chair in an upright normal position.

A further important object of my invention is to provide a rocking babys chair which has general utility, such as a feeding chair for a child, a play chair, etc.

A still further important object of my invention is to provide a chair of the above character which will be durable and efficient in use, one that will possess a pleasing appearance, and one which can be placed upon the market at a reasonable cost, and one which will eliminate the necessity of the use of suspension frames from doorways, tripod supported seats, etc.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings,

Figure l is a vertical sectional view through the chair taken on the line 11 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, the view showing the novel arrangement of the springs and the foot pedal;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the chair with a part of the rear spring broken away.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter C generally indicates the babys chair and the same includes a base frame 5 for rockably supporting a preferred type of chair body 6.

The base frame 5 includes a pair of spaced parallel longitudinally extending bottom rails 7 and these rails are connected by front and rear transversely extending brace bars 8 and 9. Rising from the bottom rails 7 are corner uprights 10 and these uprights in turn have their upper ends connected by spaced longitudinally extending top rails 11. These top rails 11 rockably support a transversely extending shaft 12 on which the chair body 6 is mounted.

The chair body 6 can take different forms suitable for the individual preference of prospective purchasers, and

' and the back are preferably, but not necessarily, upholstered. It is also preferred to mount the back 15 in such a manner that the same can be adjusted to different positions so that a baby can either be placed in an upright position, a reclining or a semi-reclining position. Hence,

' the back 15'is mounted at its lower edge on a transverse shaft-16 carried by the side arms 13 for swinging movement. A stop bar 17 is carried by the side arms 13 adjacent to their rear ends for holding the back 15 in a lowered position, and in order to hold the back 15 in an upright or semi-upright position, I provide a removable supporting bar 18, and this bar can be placed in selected openings 19 formed in the side bars 13. When the bar 18 is not in use, and when the back 15 is resting on the stationary bar 17, the bar 18 can be placed in longitudinally aligned openings 20 formed in certain uprights 10 carried by one base rail 7. The chair body can also be provided with a front plate 21 forming a foot stop and this plate 21 is hingedly connected, as at 22, to the front of the chair bottom, and the plate can be swung down, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, to form a foot rest. Latches 23 can be provided for holding the plate in any upright position. The chair body can also be provided with a removable tray (not shown), if this should be desired. A safety strap 24 can be placed across the chair body and the strap can be carried by the side arms 13.

From the description so far, it can be seen that I have provided a chair body mounted for rocking movement on a broad, stable base frame.

In order to prevent forward tilting of the chair body, I provide a relatively heavy contractile coil spring 25, and the upper end of this spring is connected to the rear end of the chair bottom 14 in rear of the shaft 12. The lower end of the sprnig 25 is connected to a rod 26 and this rod in turn is anchored to the rear brace bar 9 of the base frame.

In order to rock the chair against tension of the spring 25 I employ a foot pedal 27. The lower edge of the foot pedal is hingedly connected, as at 28, to the front brace bar 8, and the upper end of this foot pedal carries a bolt 29. A contractile coil spring 30 is secured to the bolt 29 at its lower end and its upper end is connected, as at 31, to the front of the chair bottom 14 in advance of the shaft 12.

In use of my chair, the baby is placed within the chair body 6 and by alternately pressing on the foot pedal 27 and releasing the'same, the chair body can be given a smooth rocking motion, which is effective in pacifying a baby. By providing the foot pedal arrangement, and the springs 25 and 30, I am enabled to impart a desired safe motion to the chair body 6 from the foot and this leaves the hands free for other purposes.

If desired, front and rear stops can be provided for limiting the rocking motion of the chair body in both directions.

The chair illustrated is preferably fabricated from wood, but it is to be understood that both the base frame 5 and the chair body 6 can be made from tubing, if such should be preferred by a manufacturer and the purchaser.

Changes in details may be made, without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but what I claim as new is:

1. A babys chair comprising a base frame, including spaced upper longitudinally extending rails, a chair body including a seat, a back, and side arms connected to said seat and back, a transversely extending shaft rockably carried by the upper rails, said shaft supporting said chair body intermediate its ends, a contractile coil spring connected at its upper end to the chair body in rear of the shaft and connected at its lower end to the base frame and normally resisting forward movement of the chair body, an upwardly extending foot pedal hingedly carried by the base frame, and a contractile coil spring operatively connecting the upper end of the foot pedal to the chair body forwardly of the transverse shaft for rocking the chair body upon depression of the foot pedal against the tension of the first mentioned coil spring.

2. A babys chair comprising a base frame including spaced longitudinally extending lower rails, upper longitudinally extending rails and means connecting the upper and lower rails together, a shaft rockably carried by the upper rails, a chair body mounted on said shaft for rocking movement therewith, a contractile coil spring connected at its upper end to the chair body in rear of the shaft and connected at its lower end to the base frame and normally resisting forward movement of the chair body, a vertical foot pedal hingedly carried by the base frame, and a contractile coil spring operatively connecting the upper end of the foot pedal to the chair body forwardly of the transverse shaft for rocking the chair body upon depression of the foot pedal against the tension of i the first mentioned coil spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain 1907 

